The ultimate Doctor Who marathon – 50 years in 50 weeks

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The BBC has just announced a 12 day Doctor Who World Tour commencing on 7 August 2014. Covering five continents and seven cities, the tour will conclude in Brazil on 19 August. The Twelfth Doctor, Peter Capaldi, Companion Jenna Coleman (Clara) and Executive Producer Steven Moffat will visit the cities of Cardiff, London, Seoul, Sydney, New York, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro.

Full details of the tour have yet to be released, however it has been confirmed that the Tour will land at Cardiff and London on 7 August and conclude in Rio de Janeiro on 19 August. Further itinerary details will be released soon and will be available from the dedicated tour website http://www.doctorwho.tv/worldtour/

In the meantime check out the World Tour promotional video below.

Season 8 of Doctor Who will commence screening on a date to be advised in August 2014.

The Tenth Doctor’s Finale The End of Timestarred Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott

Neil Dugeon and Gwilym Lee star in the Midsomer Murders’episode The Flying Club(2014)

There comes a time when every aficionado of British TV awakes to the startling revelation that the acting community in the United Kingdom must indeed be very small. For a fan of Doctor Whothis comes when seemingly every British drama you watch contains at least one actor who has also appeared in Who.

No more evident was this then when I recently watched the 99th episode of ITV’s long running Detective Mystery series, Midsomer Murders.The 2014 Season 16 episode The Flying Clubstarred five actors who had appeared in Doctor Who and one inThe Sarah Jane Adventures.Moreover, three alone appeared in the same two part extravaganza and the Tenth Doctor’s finale, The End of Time (Parts 1 and 2). Watching Bernard Cribbins, June Whitfield and Jacqueline King successively appear upon the screen was a bizarre experience and furnished me with a sense of camaraderie with comedian Toby Hadoke. Well known for his stage show Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf, Hadoke draws frequent laughter for his finely honed skills at rapidly identifying any British actor by each and every appearance in Doctor Who.

Bernard Cribbins, who played Duggie Wingate in The Flying Clubappeared as Donna Noble’s grandfather, Wilfred Mott, in nine Doctor Whoepisodes between 2007 and 2010. Cribbins of course starred as Tom Campbell in Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150,the second of the two 1960s cinema released colour Dalek movies. The actress who played Cribbins’ daughter in Doctor Who and Donna’s mother also starred in The Flying Club.Jacqueline King played Laura Wilding in Midsomer Murders and Sylvia Noble for nine episodes of Doctor Whobetween 2006 and 2010. June Whitfield, perhaps most well known for her portrayal of Mother in Absolutely Fabulous,was the third actor from The End of Timeto appear in this episode of Midsomer Murders.This time portraying Molly Darnley, in Doctor WhoWhitfield starred as the elderly but flirtacious Minnie Hooper.

Bernard Cribbins starred as Duggie Wingate in Midsomer Murders’ The Flying Club

June Whitfield starred as Molly Darnley in Midsomer Murders’ The Flying Club

To round up this incestuous like recycling of Doctor Whoactors, Laila Rouass (Stephanie King in Midsomer Murders) starred as Colonel Tia Karim in The Sarah Jane Adventurestwo part story Death of the Doctor(2010). Sara Stewart (Miranda Darnely) provided the voice of the Computer in 2005’s The End of the Worldand Phil Cornwell (Eddie Rayner) is credited as a Stall Holder in The Fires of Pompeii(2008).

Bernard Cribbins (Wilfred Mott) and June Whitfield (Minnie Hooper) in Doctor Who’s The End of Time

Jacqueline and Bernard Cribbins in Doctor Who. King starred as Laura Wilding in the Midsomer Murders’episode The Flying Club

Midsomer Murdershas long been associated with Doctor Whoactors. The late Barry Jackson, who passed away in December 2013, played pathologist Dr George Bullard for more than a decade until 2011. Jackson first appeared in Doctor Whoin the 1965 serial The Romans(Ascaris) and shortly thereafter as Jeff Garvey in Galaxy 4and Mission to the Unknown(1965). Jackson also played Drax in the 1979 serial The Armageddon Factor.

Barry Jackson in his first Doctor Whoappearance, The Romans(1965)

Barry Jackson as Dr George Bullard in Midsomer Murders with Jason Hughes and John Nettles

Share with the Doctor Who Mind Robberyour experiences of spotting Doctor Whoactors in British television programmes. Can any other episode of a TV series beat Midsomer Murder’ssix Whorelated appearances? We’d love to read your responses!

The Doctor Who Mind Robberis saddened to learn of the death of actress Kate O’Mara who was best known to fans of Doctor Whoas the renegade Time Lady, the Rani. O’Mara appeared as an adversary of the Sixth Doctor in The Mark of the Rani(1985) and with the Seventh Doctor in Time and the Rani(1987). O’Mara also starred as the Rani in the 30th Anniversary charity cross over between Doctor Whoand The East Enders, Dimensions ofTime,in 1993. On that occasion she appeared alongside the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors.

Kate O’Mara was most well known for her role as Joan Collins’ sister Alexis Colby in the US soap, Dynasty.You can read more about O’Mara’s career in a BBC news article here. The first video below is one of O’Mara’s last interviews. Recorded on 22 November 2013, O’Mara discusses her role as the Rani in Doctor Who.

I couldn’t resist sharing this Wales Online article which features the fantastic artwork of 35 year old American Christie Cox. Cox has reimaged all 13 incarnations of the Doctor as dogs. You can read the article and view all of the artwork here.

The Eighth actor to play the Doctor in the iconic British television programme Doctor Who, Paul McGann,has tweeted a photograph of the Eighth Doctor in an unexpected location. Presumably taken during the filming of the minisode The Night of the Doctorin April 2013, the shot shows the Time Lord in what appears to be the Eleventh Doctor’s TARDIS console. McGann captioned the photo with “This is my moment …!” Could this hint to more Eighth Doctor minisodes? Only time will tell.

One can only hope that the ever vigilant Estate of the late Terry Nation, the creator of Doctor Who’siconic Daleks, turned a blind eye to the mutant pepperpots’ recent outing in defence of gay rights. Renowned for its fervent protection of copyright, the Nation Estate would undoubtedly be confounded to see the perennial haters utilized to spread love and acceptance.

Sydney women Kathy Sant and Jenny Martin constructed three pink Daleks and assorted props for their “Exterminate Homophobia” float at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Grason 1 March 2014. Built in the backyard of their Marrickville home, the equal rights Daleks proved a big hit at the parade as they spread the their message, “Equality: You Must Comply”! “David the Dalek” even has his own Facebook page.

You can check out the construction of Sant and Mann’s Daleks at the same same website. The first photo in this post is courtesy of David the Dalek’s Facebook page. No copyright infringement is intended.

Thanks to the ubiquitous smart phone, location filming for Doctor Whois only ever a few clicks away from the eyes of a multitude of fans. Enjoy the Doctor Who Mind Robber’sselection of January and February 2014 clips from the streets of Cardiff, Wales.